I had only been living in Cornwall for a week, and here I was, sat on the edge of a cliff, eating an ice-cream and watching a ship get wrecked.

Being in an age before Twitter, I had heard the breaking news on the dance floor of the Bosun’s Locker in Penzance, and set my alarm when I got home to remind me to head to Sennen at first light.

I was not alone. The next morning, the coast path was teaming with hundreds of curious people who had also heard the rumours. And as I sat there eating my cone in the sunshine, watching a ship get wrecked, I thought to myself; this is what it must be like to live in Cornwall.

The Mulhiem is stranded on rocks near to Land's End

The story goes that the chief officer of RMS Mülheim on watch had caught his trousers in the lever of his chair, fallen over and passed out. By the time he regained consciousness, there was nothing he could do to stop the ship hitting the rocks.

22nd March 2018

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However, the RMS Mülheim was beyond saving and on 23 May 2003 it was declared a constructive total loss, meaning it would be left to break apart in its final resting place; a narrow, rocky inlet called Castle Zawn.

The wreck of RMS Mulheim which ran aground near Land's End on 22nd March 2003 (Image: Greg Martin)

A decade and a half after I moved to Penzance, I decided to climb down to Castle Zawn to see what is still left of RMS Mülheim after 15 years of bearing the brunt of Atlantic storms.

The wreck of RMS Mulheim which ran aground near Land's End on 22nd March 2003 (Image: Greg Martin)

Access to the cove is now almost completely blocked by huge, mangled pieces of rusted steel that have been beaten into organic shapes, and public are advised against climbing down to the wreck.

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The superstructure of the vessel lies on its side, twisted and decomposing, but still largely intact.

The wreck of RMS Mulheim which ran aground near Land's End on 22nd March 2003 (Image: Greg Martin)

The hull groans and creaks as the tide comes back for more.

The wreck of RMS Mulheim which ran aground near Land's End on 22nd March 2003 (Image: Greg Martin)

Fifteen years after it ran aground, what is left of RMS Mülheim is a visual reminder of the power of the sea. But with the boulders now stained orange with rust and no sign of this ship’s graveyard disappearing soon, it also illustrates the fragility of nature.